Duquesne-class cruiser

Duquesne in her 1939 configuration
Class overview
Name	Duquesne class
Operators	French Navy
Succeeded by	Suffren class
Built	1924–1928
In service	1929–1962
Building	2
Completed	2
Retired	2
General characteristics
Type	Treaty cruiser Marine National designation[1] 1924 Light Cruiser 1931 1st Class Cruiser
Displacement	10,160 t (10,000 long tons) (standard) 11,404 t (11,224 long tons) (Normal) 12,435 t (12,239 long tons) (full load)
Length	191 m (626 ft 8 in) overall 185 m (606 ft 11 in) between perpendiculars
Beam	19 m (62 ft 4 in)
Draught	6.32 m (20 ft 9 in)
Propulsion	8 Guyot du Temple boilers, 20 kg/cm2 (280 psi) (215°) 4-shaft Rateau-Bretagne single-reduction geared steam turbines for 118,358.4 shp (88,259.8 kW)
Speed	34 knots (63 km/h) (designed)
Range	1,842 tons oil fuel radius 5,000 nmi (9,300 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h) 1,800 nmi (3,300 km) at 29 knots (54 km/h) 700 nmi (1,300 km) at 33 knots (61 km/h)
Complement	605
Armament	4 × 2 203mm/50 Modèle 1924 guns in Model 1924 twin mounts 8 × 1 Canon de 75 mm modèle 1924 guns on a model 1922 HA single mounts 4 × 2 Canon de 37 mm Modèle 1925 guns on single mount CA Model 1925 12 × 1 Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun on single mounts 6 × 550 mm (22 in) torpedo tubes Model 1925T triple mounts with 9 Model 1923D, Toulon torpedoes
Armour	Magazine box 30 mm (1.2 in) sides and 20 mm (0.79 in) crowns Deck 30 mm (1.2 in) Turrets and conning tower 30 mm (1.2 in)
Aircraft carried	2 FBA 17 and CAMS 37A (superseded by GL-810 then Loire-Nieuport 130
Aviation facilities	1 catapult

The Duquesne-class cruiser was a group of two heavy cruisers built for the French Navy in the mid 1920s, the first such vessels built for the French fleet. The two ships in the class were the Duquesne and Tourville.

With the ratification of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, France could not ignore the ramifications of the cruiser article. To maintain her position of a major naval power she would have to follow the other four major naval powers with her own 10,000-ton, 8-inch gun cruiser.^[2] The only modern cruiser design Service techniques des constructions navales (STNC - Constructor's Department)^[3] had to draw on was the recently designed 8,000-ton Duguay-Trouin-class design. The cruiser design authorized under the 1924 build program would sacrifice protection for speed while maintaining the 10,000-ton displacement restriction while mounting 8 inch guns.^[4] Two vessels would be authorized and would be known as the Duquesne-class cruiser.

Initially classed as a light cruiser, both ships were reclassified on 1 July 1931 as first class cruisers. The French Navy did not have a vessel classification of heavy cruiser instead used armoured cruiser and light cruiser prior to the London Naval Treaty then first class cruiser and second class cruiser afterwards.^[5]